When Windows 10 support ends I was planning on transitioning to Linux on my desktop. I just tried CachyOS KDE Plasma and immediately ran into two serious issues:
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I could not figure out how to get audio to come out of my headphones. Everything is connected, and sound totally works on Windows 10 with my Audioengine D3 USB DAC, but not in CachyOS. I messed with all the system audio settings, profiles, and mute control, and nothing worked. No audio at all, not from test sound, not from browser.
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Apparently Wayland is the name of the default/best video compositor for Linux, but it doesn't seem to support ycbcr subsampling modes. In Windows 10, I use the Nvidia-provided 4:2:0 subsampling mode with my RTX 2060 Super to get 4K120 support over HDMI to my LG C1 (genuinely hard to see the difference unless you're running a test pattern). It seems you have to use the X11 compositor in Linux to get that feature, but I've read that X11 provides a poor experience compared to Wayland.
Not to mention, my first CachyOS install attempt bugged midway through (installing from DVD disc) and I spent a lot of time unsuccessfully trying to restart the install process not realizing something was borked in that session that was preventing partitions from being formatted for the installer. So I rebooted and manually set to load the installer into RAM, and finally was able to get it to install.
Seeing my experience hasn't improved since the last time I tried Linux (Mint, a few years ago - really bad audio stuttering), now the plan has switched to sticking to W10 until software inevitably stops supporting it (Nvidia is already ending W10 game ready support this year), and then switching to W11. I'll just have to use mods to improve the usability, specifically for start menu and right click menu.
I would like to use Linux but it really disappointed me seeing all the hype on LTT's channel, only to see that it's still user experience hell. It's either "works but evil" (Windows) or "doesn't work but not evil" (Linux) and that's unfortunate.
That's probably an Audioengine D3 USB DAC problem and not a Linux problem. Almost all audio systems are supported in Linux, but maybe this one isn't. It is up to the hardware vendor to ensure quality support, that's also how it works with Windows. It's not Microsoft that writes all those drivers, they are written by the OEM vendor.
Only with Linux sometimes users of the hardware implement the support that should have been provided by the vendor.
Don't use HDMI, HDMI is inferior to display port and only serves the purpose to work as a DRM mechanism, something we absolutely do not want.
I have no idea what bad user-experience X11 should be the cause of. X11 works absolutely fine, and has features you won't find anywhere else.
But apart from that I've heard Windows is utter crap proprietary spyware, so compared to that you are obviously way better off with Linux.
You should complain to the maker of that audio system about it not working, your complaint here is completely irrelevant, and achieves nothing.
I use Linux since the 90's, I have nothing Microsoft at my home, not a Windows fan at all.
That being said, "Linux is not the problem, XYZ is" is totally an unacceptable answer for people coming to Linux.
The guy doesn't want a list of finger pointers, blames, good-or-bad reasons -- he wants sound!
Linux strong point isn't multimedia / customer hardware support, and that's totally fine.
"Skill issues", "Work on my machine ", and " Not Linux fault, but EvilCorp fault" never helped anyone, nor "don't use HDMI" ...
So, before telling OP that his "complaint" achieves nothing, take a good long look at yourself.
Moreover, OP seems telling us their experience in hope to get help more than complaining...
Damn straight. It's been said that the biggest obstacle for Linux on desktop is other Linux users.
If it's a piece of hardware that is known for not getting along with Linux, this is literally just a factual statement.
No I never saw a question there.
Then use something that is Linux compatible.
Look, I get it, Linux isn't at fault for all the issues he's experiencing, but it is what it is. It not being Linux's fault won't magically make OP's DAC work, and who knows why OP is using HDMi - there may be a good reason for that, too (maybe the TV doesn't have Displayport?). You will never be in a 100% FOSS environment if you need certain functionality, at least not in this day and age. OP tried, I'm assuming gave it his best, and is frustrated that it didn't work, since he would have liked to switch. That's 100% legitimate.
Yeah, you'll hear a lot of Wayland fanboying, but X11 is still more reliable and full featured IME. Someday þat may not be true, but over 10 years in and Wayland can still not support global keybindings unless you are willing to accept DE bloat.
Wayland is cool, but I had to revert to X11, but with KDE Wayland didn't support the keybindings I wanted. It might be a KDE problem, but nonetheless I chose to go back to KDE for the overall better experience. And I never had a problem with X11.
AFAIK Wayland is as much about developers wanting a fresh slate and a clean start. Not that that there was anything wrong with X11.
I fully understand that, and I expect that in time I will switch to Wayland, it's not actually a huge issue either way IMO.
PS:
Thanks to to the coders who are putting in the hours for both projects to be great. 👍 😎 😀
It really was only one minor issue that made me stay with X11.